Bright-Eyed Wonder
by ZackAttack96
Summary: Jenny Mills feels secure when she's with the Doctor. But when they are both thrust into the midst of a full-scale invasion, how will the Doctor react when old wounds are reopened? How will he cope with the responsibility? And will Jenny be able to come to terms with the Doctor's darker side? Eleven & OC; non-romance. Rated T for descriptive violence. Very mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everybody! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Well, for those of you joining me from Seeing Double, I must apologise to you - it has fallen through. Nearly two years on, I've lost the muse and I suspect my readers did too. So it has been shelved. However, that means I now have this lovely new story for you all. Hope you enjoy! ~ZackAttack~**

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CHAPTER ONE

"So when we stick the tip of the wire into the Bunsen burner…"

It was Friday afternoon in Chelsea Grammar School, about a minute before the final bell. By this stage, the Chemistry teacher could have had a fencing match with the year head at the front of the class and nobody would have bothered to lift their head. Yet, inexplicably, they all had to pretend to be interested in flame tests.

That is to say, _nearly_ all of them.

For Jennifer Mills, Chemistry would only cease to hold her interest once she shuffled off this mortal coil. Even then, that would only be because the gestation cycle of the various decomposer microorganisms would suddenly prove more interesting. Jenny was a born scientist, through-and-through. Since the ripe old age of six, when she marvelled at the strange fizzy result of Coca-Cola plus Mentos, Jenny knew that nothing short of an illustrious career in industrial chemistry would do. That resolve had mellowed recently to become 'biochemistry', but no matter. Jenny knew that she would take triple-award science as one of her choices at GCSE, as many science A-levels as school would allow, and then study Natural Sciences at Cambridge University with emphasis on Biology and Chemistry. Yes, she knew what she wanted, how to get there and what she needed to do.

So that is why Jenny had no trouble whatsoever in fixing her gaze on the nichrome wire now trembling two inches from a gently hissing blue Bunsen burner flame. Her pen was poised ready over her file block, ready to scribble down the colour.

_Strontium –_

"…we get this beautiful red colour."

Jenny refused to let herself gasp. No true scientist, she imagined, would actually _gasp_. It didn't stop the spectacle before her eyes from being utterly fascinating, though.

_Strontium – Red_

The harsh chatter of the bell jolted Jenny from her reverie, and she dolefully began to pack up her books and papers. The teacher looked as if he were about to make some parting remark or instruction to the class, but dismissed it as pointless and instead began to clean off the wire.

"Sir?" asked Jenny, "Can you mix the colours? Like, if you were to mix strontium and sodium salts and burn them together, would you get orange?"

The teacher paused for a moment and adjusted his glasses. "Hmm, I suppose so. You'd have to be careful what salts you picked, though, because they might displace. Just a thought."

"Displace? What do you mean?"

"You don't need to know that yet," the teacher waved. "That's next year."

"Oh come on, sir!" pressed Jenny. "Don't do this to me, please!"

The man let out a sigh he had uttered many times before on similar occasions and walked a well-rehearsed path to the cupboard. He withdrew the GCSE Chemistry textbook he kept there and held it out to Jenny, refusing to look at her.

"I _would_ like it back before registration on Monday," he said with a feigned air of annoyance.

Jenny strode out of the room, her hair billowing in her wake. "Absolutely, sir."

The path down to the bus park was practically empty after the delay, so Jenny walked along on her own, humming quietly to herself. There were several routes down to the bus park, but Jenny preferred this slightly longer one, as it took her past the sixth form garden. She liked a peek over the hedge to see what the gardener was up to.

Not much had changed over the week, apparently. Most of the plants were the same as ever. He had pruned the roses, though.

Oh no, wait, there was something new. There was a little group of stone statues standing in the corner in front of the shed. They looked like angels.

"Creepy," said Jenny to no one in particular. "Wouldn't want to meet one of those on a dark night."

She looked around the garden, wondering where on earth the gardener was going to put them. It seemed to her as if there just wasn't any room.

Jenny squinted and looked back at the statues. How many did he have to fit in? _One, two, three… _She started. There were five statues standing there, but she could have sworn that there were six a moment ago. _Where could one have gone?_

Jenny laughed at herself. It was Friday afternoon. She was going crazy, clearly. Statues don't just disappear.

She shouldered her bag and trudged off down the path. Still, Jenny couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was watching her.

* * *

Jenny's weekend was uneventful. She had a fair bit of homework and wanted to fit in that extra reading on displacement, too.

Two people disappeared over the weekend and they hadn't been found by Monday. Jenny wasn't quite sure why she cared about this particular missing persons thing. Perhaps it was that the police had absolutely no leads at all.

"There's usually something!" Jenny exclaimed to her mother during her homework.

"Oh I know, dear," said Sophie, her mother, "but maybe they've missed something."

Jenny snorted. "You'd think two days into the investigation they'd at least have an inkling."

She looked at her watch. It was past eight o'clock and still her dad wasn't home.

"Where's Dad?" Jenny asked.

Sophie nearly dropped the spoon she was holding. "What?"

"Well it's after eight and he's not home yet."

Jenny watched as her mother slowly turned round with a cheerful smile on her face. "Oh, well, he's probably just…running late or something!"

Something was wrong. Jenny could feel it, and she knew her mother could feel it too. Her dad would have called.

It was a family agreement that phones weren't to be used during homework, but Jenny quietly pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked 'Find Friends'. Her dad's phone location was unreachable.

Jenny swallowed nervously. "Mum? Dad's phone isn't on 'Find Friends'. Do you think maybe we should–?"

Sophie cut her off. "Yes. Yes I think we should probably get worried. I've tried his phone five times but it goes straight to voicemail. I'm going to call the police."

The words cut right through Jenny. It was right and proper and it was what she expected her mother to do, but nothing could have prepared her for it.

Sophie was in her husband's office so the phone call was muffled, but Jenny wasn't interested anyway.

Just then, the doorbell rang. "I've got it!" said Jenny as she sprang from her chair.

A man in a tweed jacket had his back to the door, but he spun round once Jenny answered. "Hello! Is this the Mills' house by any chance?"

"Yes…?" said Jenny tentatively. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," said the man. "I'm here about your dad."

Jenny forgot herself and gasped. "But…but he…"

The Doctor frowned. "Hmm?"

"We only just rang the police! Mums still on the phone! How did you…?"

The man glanced at his watch and winced. "Oh. I'm early. Sorry. Mind if I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, he pushed in and clomped through the hall. Jenny's head spun for a moment as she closed the door, confused. "Sorry, do you mind if I see some ID? You could be anyone!"

The Doctor spun round yet again. Clearly it was something he did a fair bit.

"Yes! Of course! Here you go." He produced a flip wallet and flashed it in front of Jenny. She snatched it and frowned.

"It's blank. Where's your ID?"

"No it's not!" exclaimed the Doctor. He snatched the wallet back and studied it. "It says here, look! Inspector John Smith."

Jenny peered at the wallet again. "It really doesn't. You've either gone mad or you think I'm stupid."

The Doctor looked perplexed and put the wallet away. "Right. That's interesting. Nobody round here has ever thought that."

"Round here? What do you mean?"

The man laughed in an attempt to dismiss the issue. "Gosh, you're perceptive, aren't you? Clever monkey! So…"

He swished away and started wandering around the kitchen. "You appear to have lost your dad, then? I lost my dad when I was quite young."

"Oh really?" asked Jenny politely. "How old were you?"

"Ooh, I was about seven hundred and something. It's not really important."

The Doctor moved swiftly on. "Quick question – what does your dad do? Where does he work?"

"In a bank in Chelsea. Quite near my school actually. He's on security…but not evenings or night shifts. He should have been home about two and a half…three hours ago."

"Right. And does this bank have gargoyles or statues or anything? Sculptures? Anything like that?"

Jenny considered. "No. Don't think so. There's engraving in the pediment but they're not statues. Why?"

The Doctor looked cryptic. "No reason. Don't worry about it."

"No, it's just because school just got new garden ornaments. They were statues of angels. Is that important?"

It was as if somebody poured a bucket of ice down the Doctor's neck. "Angels? Did you say angels?"

"Yes. Why?"

He suddenly looked very serious. "Well then I think I have my answer."

Jenny looked away for only a second, and when she looked back, he was over at the door, about to leave.

"Wait!" she called and ran at him. "Do you know where my dad is?"

He stopped. "Yes. Well, maybe. Hopefully."

She lifted her thick woollen coat and scarf and began struggling into them. "Then I'm coming with you."

The Doctor looked taken aback. "Hang on, no, you can't, it's too dangerous."

Jenny was undeterred. "If you're saying that you can find my dad, then I trust you more than anybody else at the moment. The police don't seem to have a clue."

"Trusting a strange man who arrived in the dark? Bit silly?"

She shot him a withering look. "Please. You act like a seven-year-old and you tried to fob off a blank piece of paper as ID. I'm shaking in my boots."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "Fine, but don't blame me if something happens to you."

Jenny suddenly had a realisation. "Oh, wait! Mum will be wondering."

She scampered to the table and scribbled a quick message.

_Off to find Dad! Back soon. Love you xxx_

"Done. Let's go."

The pair strode purposefully down the street towards the corner. Jenny's mind was spinning as she tried to process everything that was going on. "Where are we going?" she finally asked.

"We need transport," came the reply.

"Transport?" Jenny's heart gave a lurch. "You mean Dad's far away?"

The Doctor chuckled. "You don't know the half of it."

They arrived at the end of the street outside a large blue wooden box. The Doctor began to rummage about in his pockets, presumably for a key.

"Now what?" said Jenny, exasperatedly, "We're running out of time!"

Again came the chuckle. The Doctor turned to Jenny. "Time is the least of our worries."

He flung open both doors and strutted through.

For the second time that day, Jenny found herself gasping. _This is extremely unprofessional, you know,_ muttered her subconscious. But Jenny didn't listen to her subconscious.

"It's…it's…"

"Bigger on the inside? Yes, you're not the first to mention that," said the Doctor.

Jenny slowly crossed the threshold. "A ship in a bottle. You've crammed this massive room into this small box without it being unstable. How did you manage that?"

The Doctor preened. "It would be rather complicated science, actually."

A frown. "Try me."

"Well. The console room is actually in another dimension. Both of us, right now, are standing _in – another – dimension_!"

Jenny considered for a moment and then nodded her head slowly. "Got it. So we actually crossed between dimensions when we entered the box?"

The Doctor blinked. "Um…yes. Yes, we…did." _How in the name of Gallifrey did she actually understand that? Impressive._

Jenny glided up the ramp and circumnavigated the console, taking everything in. "So, if we're in another dimension with that door serving as the link, that must take a lot of power, right? I take it this thing doesn't run on unleaded?"

"The power source is actually an exploding star. It's suspended in the act of exploding, right in the middle of the TARDIS. That's what we're standing in right now, by the way. A TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"Oh, I see, so it's a time machine? Cool." Jenny seemed for all the world completely nonplussed.

The Doctor strode up the ramp until he was level with her. "No, see, that's not how it works! You're not meant to just…believe me! You're meant to be amazed!" He pouted. "Everyone else was."

Jenny rounded on him. "Well forgive me for being a little preoccupied at the moment!" she snapped. "I'd really rather just get my father back."

The man winced. Of course she was right.

"Ah. Yes, sorry. Completely understand."

She stood, arms folded, tapping her foot. "Any time today would be nice."

The Doctor sprung into action. "Today wouldn't be much use for this one, I'm afraid!"

He darted to the console and thrust the space/time throttle aggressively forwards, dumping the engine release lever as he did so. Jenny was thrown sideways against the guard rail and let out a yelp, then began to laugh.

"It's quite a ride!" she yelled.

"I think there's a word you're searching for," said the Doctor. "Geronimo!"

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**Reviews much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Happy Easter holidays! So my sincere apologies that it took this long to produce an update. Revision for exams and whatnot. It is my hope that updates will be more forthcoming in future.**

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CHAPTER TWO

Jenny lay slumped against the guardrail, slightly out of breath. "So you mean to tell me that this fancy time machine can't fly a little smoother?"

The Doctor was beaming from ear to ear. "Ah, but where would be the fun in that? Much more enjoyable this way, don't you think?"

"No!" came the reply. "I think it would be an awful lot more enjoyable to sort of glide along and gently come to a stop at your destination."

"That's more enjoyable if you're old and boring." The Doctor looked Jenny straight in the eye from close range. "Do you want to be old and boring?"

"Old and boring sometimes works a heck of a lot better than new and exciting, you know. I mean, isn't vinyl far better than CD? Isn't the Titanic still the most luxurious cruise ship that was ever built?" Sometimes Jenny surprised _even_ herself with her eloquence.

Evidently, the Doctor was slightly taken aback, too. "Er, well, that last bit isn't strictly true if you're speaking from the thirtieth Century. There was this one ship–"

"Why are we even having this discussion?" exclaimed Jenny, her voice rising. "My _dad_ is out there somewhere. We're wasting time!"

The Doctor was striding towards the doors, but paused and turned slowly. "I _think_ you'll find that time is the least of our worries."

He opened the doors with a flourish and, almost theatrically, lightning lit up the entrance with harsh white light.

Outside, the weather was horrendous. Rain sheeted down from the sky and the pavements were deserted. The trees lining the street were being shaken violently by the gusts of wind howling around the buildings and rushing down the road.

Jenny eyed it all with disdain. "You're saying we have to go out in that?" she yelled over the noise of the storm.

"Do you want to find your dad or not?" retorted the Doctor. "I'm afraid the TARDIS doesn't work very well as a car!"

"But where do we even start?" moaned Jenny. "Where even are we?"

The Doctor checked his watch. "We're exactly where we left! We've just gone forty years into the past!"

The girl was taken aback. "Forty years in the past?" she repeated. "What's happened to Dad?"

"The Weeping Angels…they don't kill you like any other evil creature. They feed off potential energy – the could-have-beens, the never-weres. They sent your dad back in time to feed off the energy of the life he could have had."

Jenny's eyes widened. "Wait a second! The life he _could_ have had? Do you mean we can't save him?"

The Doctor shook his head vigorously. "No no, we can still save him, if we're quick. Come on!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the rain, the doors crashing shut behind them. Another flash of lightning cut through the sky.

"How do we find him, though? This is London, at night, in the pouring rain! Everyone's indoors!"

The Doctor surveyed the scene. "Well tell me this. If it's the middle of the night in the pouring rain…" He pointed. "…then what's _that_ guy doing running down the street with no coat?"

Jenny couldn't quite believe it. Could it really be that easy? Didn't they have to try and track him down for days and days, chasing up leads and finding dead ends before they eventually did find him? It looked like him, but it wasn't her dad, surely?

"It _is_ my dad!" she exclaimed. She started pelting down the street towards the man, dragging the Doctor behind him. "Dad! Dad!"

The man stopped and anxiously scanned the street before him. "Jenny?"

There were only ten metres between them when it happened. A third jagged lightning bolt split the heavens just as a gust of wind blew the rain into their faces. Jenny was momentarily blinded. Her dad shielded his eyes with an arm. Even the Doctor wiped his eyes.

It was only a moment. But a moment was enough.

In an instant, Jenny heard a strangled cough, and her heart lurched when she saw her dad again. An angel had him in a headlock, a twisted snarl on its face.

The Doctor reacted quickly. "Keep your eyes on it! Don't blink or he's dead!"

Jenny felt sick in the very pit of her stomach, but forced herself to stare at the angel with a vicious ferocity. "What do we do? _What do we do?_" she screamed.

The Time Lord swallowed. "What's your dad's name, Jenny?"

She tried to answer. She really tried, but the words just couldn't get past the lump at the back of her throat. So her dad answered for her.

"Robert. Robert Mills," he said in calm, measured tones.

"Robert. Good name, brilliant name. Now, can you get your head out, do you think, Robert?"

The man twisted his head sideways and tried to squeeze it through the gap between the angel's forearm and chest, but it was fruitless. Robert shook his head, and said the word that nearly tore Jenny in two.

"No."

The Doctor felt himself nodding with a resigned grin on his face. "No. Of course not."

Suddenly, he lashed out at a wooden fence next to him. His boot splintered one of the boards. He felt anger course through his veins. The Time Lord swung round and strode right up to the angel's stone face.

"Why?" he snarled. "Why do this? Why toy with him? You've sent him back; you've got the energy. Why are you still _here_?"

But then the obvious answer dawned on him.

"Because _I'm_ here. Because I was about to save him, so you have to finish it. You have to make sure there isn't anything to save, and you've done it, haven't you? If I take him back, you get nothing, but if he dies here today, his life…is yours."

He backed away inch by inch until he was next to Jenny. "Jenny, we can't save him. He can't get his head out and the angel won't let him. So there's nothing more we can do. We have to blink and let him go."

"I can't do that," said Jenny with quavering voice. "I can't kill my own dad."

Robert spoke again, his voice strong. "Listen, Jenny. I can't escape this. We always knew that being a security guard might kill me, and this isn't any different. You have to be strong. It's going to be OK. Trust me. I've had my time."

Jenny let out a strangled sob. "No! Don't say that! There must be a way!"

Her dad smiled and shook his head as best he could. "There isn't, darling." He beckoned. "Come here; let me look at you one last time."

She slowly approached, eyes burning with tears. The Doctor kept the angel in an icy gaze.

Robert cupped Jenny's face in his hands. "You need to be strong, now. You need to be strong for me and for your mother. Can you do that for me, Jenny?"

"Dad, no!" she said. Robert tried to duck his head towards her earnestly, but gagged as the stone arm bit into his neck.

"Please, Jenny! Please do this for _me_."

Jenny found herself nodding, choking back the urge to vomit. The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder and brought her back with him. Still keeping his eyes trained on the angel, the Time Lord held her head against his chest. Jenny closed her eyes.

Robert cleared his throat one last time. "I don't know who you are, sir. But you seem like a good man, and right now, I don't have much other choice. You look after my family, sir. Look after my wife and look after Jenny."

The Doctor looked him straight in the eye. "I will, Robert. I promise."

Robert nodded, lifted his head and closed his eyes. The entire world seemed to hold its breath. Even the rain had eased in anticipation.

The Doctor felt his mouth turn downwards as he closed his own eyes.

There was a soft crunch like somebody stepped on a plastic bottle. Then there was a gurgle, and a little dripping of liquid falling onto the pavement. Finally, there was a rustle of clothing and a sickening crack like a coconut on a rock.

Silence reigned over all. The Doctor opened his eyes once again and took in Robert's crumpled form. The angel had snapped his neck in a vicious rotation of the head. His chest was digging into the pavement but the back quarter of his head was in contact with the flagstones. A trickle of blood and sputum weaved from the corner of Robert's mouth and dripped slowly onto the pavement. It was a grisly sight to behold.

The Doctor felt Jenny try to move her head but hugged it closer to his chest. "No, don't look. I promised to look after you and this is step one. You can't see him like this."

Jenny nodded slowly and rested her head back against his chest. Somehow the grief had been sucked out of her, leaving her feeling empty and cold inside. She suspected it would hit her hard later, but almost felt guilty that she felt nothing.

"Can we go?" she asked simply.

The Doctor pressed the TARDIS key into her hand. "Go and let yourself in. I'll be along in a moment."

* * *

Across town, an undertaker was applying varnish to a mahogany coffin when the doorbell rang. "We're closed!" he called. "Come back tomorrow."

"It can't wait!" came the muffled voice.

The man sighed and put down the varnish. "All right, all right…" he breathed, and opened the door.

The Doctor stood on the doorstep, Robert's limp form over his shoulder. The Time Lord was exhausted, having carried the man over a mile.

The undertaker's eyes widened. "I'm not a young man, sir, and I've seen many things in my time, but this has to be the first time somebody's carried a corpse to my door."

They laid Robert on the slab and looked him over. "I found him lying on the pavement about a mile from here," said the Doctor. "Looks like his neck was broken."

"You're not kidding," muttered the man. "Well, I'll report this to the police and look for family. He'll get a dignified burial, sir, I can assure you."

"I'm very glad to hear that," said the Doctor.

* * *

The moment Jenny sat down on the jumpseat, the realisation hit home. She was fatherless and her mother was a widow. It was such a simple statement, and yet it touched her so deeply that it threatened to break her spirit. She felt adrenaline shoot through her like a lightning bolt – she would never see her father again. He wouldn't see her go to university, or get married, or have a family.

That was when the grief hit, and it hit Jenny like an articulated lorry. She pulled her legs up onto the jumpseat, rolled sideways and howled. She felt the tears run down her cheek and soak into her jumper. Her sorrow gushed out of her like a typhoon. A gaping great hole had opened up in her heart – a dad-shaped hole – and its jagged edges gnashed at her thoughts. All the emotion welled up until her heart couldn't bear any more, and still it came. She was completely overwhelmed and helpless and devoid of any other thought. Jenny tried to tell herself that it was all a dream and that she would awake from this nightmare soon enough, but _no, it's not a dream_, came the whisper from her subconscious, _you'll never wake up from this one; it's all real and he's never coming back_. Sentient thought process made way for disjointed, garbled firings as Jenny lost her grasp on the cogwheels of her mind. She felt her whole head spin and cried out as wave after wave of thought and emotion and…anger.

That third emotion had remained a mystery before, but it now reared its twisted, spiteful head. Jenny was intensely angry with the Weeping Angels for snatching her father away. Regaining intelligence for a moment, she pieced together the snippets of information the Doctor had uttered. The angels feed on time energy; by killing her dad, they free up a lot of time energy; _ergo_, they killed her dad for food. But why _her_ dad? Jenny couldn't fathom an explanation. It all seemed random. Robert Mills was not an extraordinary man. He was a security guard who worked in a bank, so unless the angels felt snubbed by the recent economic meltdown or else resented authority, there was no logical reason.

Jenny surprised herself by sitting upright and engaging in deep contemplation. There had to be a reason; she just couldn't see it. Perhaps the Doctor would know.

As the saying goes, the very devil of whom she was speaking emerged through the wooden doors, concern plastered all over his features. "Jenny, I don't know what–"

"Why him?" Jenny demanded, cutting him short. The Doctor blinked, entirely taken aback.

"What? Aren't you…er…I mean, your dad…" he stumbled, lost for words.

"Yes, yes, I know," snapped Jenny, "but answer my question. Why Robert Terence Mills? Out of every single citizen of the Earth, why pick him?"

The Doctor considered. "I don't know. I really don't know." But then something clicked in his head. A possibility. Could it be the case?

"No, I don't know," he said finally.

Jenny sighed. "Fair enough. So are you going to look after me, then?"

"Naturally," said the Time Lord matter-of-factly. "I made a promise and I intend to keep my word."

"Good," said Jenny, "because I want a proper ride in this TARDIS of yours. Where can we go? _When_ can we go to?"

"Anywhere and any_when_ you like!" said the Doctor, filled with enthusiasm. But it sputtered a little. "Wait a moment. You just lost your _father_. Are you sure you're OK? I mean, don't you want more time to…come to terms with it?"

Jenny shook her head. "The best thing to do is to carry on with life and to try and work out this enigma. Because there is something not quite normal about all of this, and I intend to find out why they killed my father."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for your lovely reviews and support. I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying this. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE

She decided to let the Doctor choose their destination. After all, when presented with literally all of time and space, it can be rather a difficult decision.

Jenny pleaded ignorance. "You've been and done far more than I have. You know what wonders the universe holds; I don't!"

"Yes but what _I_ want to do is irrelevant!" exclaimed the Doctor. "I've offered you a trip of _your_ choice!"

The girl crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eye. "The ball is in your court, Doctor. Impress me."

The Doctor had a wry grin on his face as he pulled the dematerialisation lever. "Oh I think I might be able to manage that."

So with the usual in-flight drama, they hurtled through the time vortex, the entire capsule shaking violently and the engines groaning with the strain. Jenny caught sight of a dial set into the console that indicated their time velocity – the needle was flickering into the red section.

Not a moment too soon, the Doctor wrenched the time handbrake and the TARDIS skidded to a stop with a thump. The console room was eerily quiet.

"Are we there?" asked Jenny unnecessarily.

"Yes we are!" said the Doctor enthusiastically. "We're about a hundred and fifty thousand years in the future and twenty-two light years away from Earth. This is one of the major peaks of human prosperity. The economy – booming. Technology – revolutionary. Healthcare – superb. Humanity has started exploring the stars, and what a great job you've done of it, too."

"What's it called?"

"It's called Gliese 667Cc. It's the third planet orbiting the star Gliese 667C. We're in the constellation of Scorpius."

Jenny's mouth dropped open. "I know Gliese! Back in my time, we thought it might be the closest and most habitable planet to Earth."

The Doctor grinned. "Would you like to see it?"

Jenny nodded excitedly.

As they stepped out of the TARDIS, a gentle wave of soft heat washed over them. Jenny shed her coat in the doorway before the doors closed again.

They were standing on a rolling grassy plain a few minutes before daybreak. A light breeze teased and tousled as it wafted along. The scent of the grass and other assorted plants worked its way into Jenny's core. A beaming smile split her face as she felt her spirits lift.

"Why do I feel so deliriously happy?" she asked.

"Ah! That would be the slightly higher oxygen content of the atmosphere here." The Doctor produced his sonic screwdriver and waved it around furiously over his head before examining the readout. "Twenty-five per cent compared to Earth's twenty-one. Doesn't seem like much difference but it's quite extraordinary."

"What's that buzzing gadget you've got, then?"

"Oh, this? This is a sonic screwdriver."

Jenny looked singularly unimpressed. "A screwdriver; a sonic _screwdriver_? Seriously, you could have called it anything, and you pick _screwdriver_?"

The Doctor got surprisingly defensive. "Oi! Don't diss the sonic! What has it ever done to you?"

Jenny ignored his pettiness and returned to surveying the landscape. "So, any pictures I've ever seen of the surface here have been rocks and cliffs and stuff. You know, more like Mars than Earth. So how did they make this incredible scenery? Or were we just wrong?"

He shook his head. "No! No, before the humans arrived, it was just that – rocks and cliffs. But that's where terraforming comes in."

Jenny sighed. "Go on. Explain what terraforming is. I know you want to."

"It's the process of making an uninhabitable planet habitable. Accelerated primary succession, if you will. Get the settings right and you could make the _Sun_ habitable! Although, I don't know what that would do to the rest of the Solar System. It would get rather cold, I suppose. Certainly longer winters."

The girl laughed. "You're ridiculous! You're ridiculous and preposterous and stark staring mad!"

The Doctor winked. "Wouldn't have me any other way."

He grabbed Jenny's hand and pulled her round the other side of the TARDIS. "Hey!" she exclaimed.

Then she caught sight of _why_ the Doctor had pulled her round the other side.

"The Gliese Citadel!" proclaimed the Doctor.

He rabbited on with detail after detail about this wonderful Citadel, but Jenny wasn't really listening. Instead, she feasted her eyes on the sight that lay before her. To the more informed, the Gliese Citadel would bear a striking resemblance to the Citadel of the Time Lords. It had a massive glass dome that encased the entire city, supported by four chrome spindles that grasped the dome like a metal hand. The buildings inside looked ultra-modern, constructed almost exclusively of more glass and metal. They reached to seemingly impossible heights, threatening to claw a hole in the sky above it. Suspended roads criss-crossed the city at various levels, and Jenny could just make out vehicles traversing the horizon.

"It's magnificent!" she breathed. "So the whole thing is behind glass? How does that work?"

"It's mainly protective," came the reply. "The whole atmosphere is continuously monitored and scrubbed. They even circulate the air round like a breeze."

The Doctor checked his watch and then placed a hand on Jenny's shoulder. "I think you're going to enjoy this," he said. "What do you know about the Gliese system?"

Jenny scratched her head inwardly. "Well…as you said, it's in Scorpius…um…it's a triple star system, and Gliese 667Cc is the third planet orbiting the third star…"

Then it dawned on her.

And with that realisation, dawn came.

The orientation of Gliese 667Cc was such that all three suns rose at the same exact moment. Until then, a heavy copper glow had bubbled just below the horizon but now it burst forth. A shimmering disc emerged just behind the Citadel; another popped up to Jenny's ten o'clock; the third rose almost directly behind them. The rays caught the glass and chrome superstructure and bounced off in all directions. The entire Citadel sparkled and shone like a jewel nestling in the folds of green velvet. Pure golden light seemed to emanate in all directions. The effect was mesmerising and breath-taking, and sure enough, Jenny's breath was plucked from her lungs without any effort at all.

She could hardly speak. "Doctor, I…it's…"

The Time Lord placed a finger on her lips. "Shh!" he said. "You'll ruin it."

And so they stood for a further ten minutes, drinking in the awesome vision before them until the suns finally rose fully above the horizon and daylight reigned.

Jenny broke the silence once again. "I don't know what to say. Just…thank you. For showing me this. It's amazing."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What, you think that's it? We haven't even started exploring yet!"

"You mean we can _visit_?" Jenny was halfway to being incredulous.

"Of course we can visit! That's the fun bit!"

And with that, the Doctor and Jenny strode across the grass.

* * *

Their first challenge was getting through the main gate.

Jenny had inferred that people rarely stepped foot outside the Citadel - partly because there was no reason to, and partly because it was more pleasant and safe inside - so therefore questions would be asked.

"Aren't they going to wonder what we were doing outside?" she asked of the Doctor.

"Of course not!" he retorted. "There are many perfectly logical reasons why we should have been outside. We'll just lie or something."

They arrived at the main gate to the Citadel and a guard strutted angrily out of a booth.

"What were you doing outside?" he demanded. "Where are your external passes?"

"Errr…" said the Doctor.

"Going outside the Citadel without an external pass is a criminal offence," continued the guard. "I'm going to have to arrest you on suspicion of unauthorised departure from the Citadel."

"But we're not from the Citadel!" blurted Jenny.

The guard looked at her, surprised. "You're off-worlders?"

"Yes. We've just arrived. Our ship is about a mile _that way_." She pointed vaguely in the direction of the TARDIS.

"Well why didn't you say so?" The guard's demeanour brightened considerably and he gave them a smile. "Welcome to the Citadel!"

He went back inside his booth to open the gate, and Jenny shot a smug look at the Doctor. "See? Sometimes the truth is all it takes," she said.

The gate whooshed open and the pair stepped through. The guard met them on the other side.

"I apologise for my accusations," he said. "You can't be too careful these days, you know."

"Oh no! No! No, we totally understand," said the Doctor. "You were only doing your job." He began to walk away.

"Well, enjoy your visit," called the guard after him. "You know you could have landed your ship in one of our compounds? It would have saved you a walk."

"I'll remember that for next time," the Time Lord replied over his shoulder.

They decided to use public transport to get into the city centre, so made their way towards a monorail stop. As they walked, Jenny couldn't help but be unsettled by the interchange with the guard. It was a new side to the Doctor, a calculating and manipulative side that was prepared to lie without warrant, even though it would have done more harm than good. She had only known the man for the best part of a day and yet had been thrust into his care. Usually one would know more about one's carer before entering into such an arrangement.

But here she was with this man, exploring a strange planet a hundred and fifty thousand years in the future! How did she know he wasn't some sort of mercenary, or space terrorist, or a madman?

She pushed such thoughts to the side as they boarded the monorail and decided instead to enjoy the trip.

The monorail ride, although admittedly fast and smooth, was singularly disappointing in contrast to its context. Jenny didn't know what she had been expecting, but she had been expecting something more futuristic.

Their destination more than made up for it, however. They alighted at the monorail stop, suspended some hundred metres above the city floor. The track itself weaved between the skyscrapers and so they were right at a twentieth-floor entrance. Jenny spied a restaurant and her stomach gurgled on cue. Somehow in all the fuss about finding her father and actually getting here, she had completely forgotten about food.

"D'you think we could stop for lunch?"

* * *

Apparently food hadn't progressed much in a hundred and fifty thousand years. The menu was surprisingly similar to one found in any bistro anywhere in London.

"Humans like some things to remain constant in their society. Food is one of them," was the slightly cryptic reply when Jenny questioned the Doctor.

She couldn't help be impressed by the robotic waiter, though. It smacked of cheesy science fiction but somehow she loved it.

The food arrived ten minutes after ordering, and Jenny took the opportunity to build up her mental profile of the man wolfing down his chips in front of her.

"So I worked out you're not a human. That much is apparent. But…_what_ are you, if you know what I mean? Obviously you're a person and not a _what_ but I don't know what to call you and…"

The Doctor waved a hand, cutting off her babbling mid flow. "No, no, it's fine. I'm a Time Lord."

"A Time Lord? Is that as literal as it sounds? You're a Lord of Time?"

"Yup," said the very Time Lord through a mouthful of potato and corn starch. "It's _that_ original."

"So are the Time Lords a race then? Or should I say species?"

"They _were_ a species. But they're all dead now except me."

Jenny felt a little embarrassed. "Oh. I'm…I'm sorry."

"We lived on a planet called Gallifrey," continued the Doctor, dismissing the apology with a wave. "It was a lo-o-o-ong way away from here. So technically speaking we're all Gallifreyans. Being a Time Lord was different; it was something you signed up to. That's one way of putting it, I suppose, but you didn't get much choice in the matter. You went to the Academy when you were eight and emerged a couple of centuries later, a changed person."

"Wow. What was that like?"

Jenny cupped her chin in her hand and watched the Doctor talk, completely fascinated. Somehow she knew that, even if this turned out to be a long journey, it would never stop being an enjoyable one.

* * *

**Please leave me a review - they help so much! I should like take this opportunity to thank my beta reader, AF, for her help and support in writing this. It's always great to have a fresh pair of eyes to see my stupid mistakes (and, indeed, to tell me if I've written utter tripe!) and so I am in her debt.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everybody for the lovely reviews. This next one is slightly longer - I'm trying to increase word count. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

After their less-than-fascinating insight into the advancement of human culinary technology (but extremely fascinating insight into the life and times of the Doctor), Jenny wanted to explore some more.

"What is there to do in this place anyway?" she asked. Jenny would never have thought that she could tire of simply observing her new surroundings, but apparently she needed stimulation.

"Well, we could always do the touristy stuff," the Timelord suggested. His face lit up with a thought. "I don't usually get to be a tourist, what with saving the world all the time. It'll be a nice change!"

"Touristy stuff works for me. Where do we start?"

The Doctor considered for a moment. "Jenny, have you ever been round the Houses of Parliament?"

"Yeah – citizenship trip, second form. Why?"

"You could say they've _changed_ a bit."

* * *

It took Jenny a minute or two of debating to convince the Doctor to simply sign up for the regular tour rather than pretending to be a visiting dignitary. A pointed reminder of the debacle at the Citadel gate seemed to be enough impetus.

So that's why Jenny and the Doctor found themselves waiting in the queue for admission, visitor's passes around their necks.

"I see what you mean about some things never changing," said Jenny. "Clearly humanity still has a _penchant_ for queuing."

The Doctor gave Jenny a slightly patronising look. "Oh come on, Jenny, use that amazing mind of yours. What would be the alternative, eh?"

Jenny considered for a moment and then gave a sharp laugh. "Point taken."

Somewhere up ahead, they heard a young man calling the two-thirty tour, so Jenny and the Doctor joined a pack of about twenty other people.

"Good afternoon everyone!" said their guide cheerfully with an upper-middle-class London accent. "My name is Andreas and I'll be your guide around the Chambers today."

Andreas began a well-rehearsed speech about security, confidentiality and so on, but Jenny wasn't concentrating. His shirt was tailored and showed off his broadish shoulders and a defined midriff. Andreas had rich brown eyes that looked warm and comforting. Enthusiasm and a genuine nature oozed out of him.

"He's quite easy on the eyes, isn't he?" breathed Jenny.

The Doctor couldn't have been more shocked if she had slapped him. "You're standing at the front entrance to the government centre of your future civilisation, and all you can think about is how _fit_ the guide is? Honestly, I'd forgotten what teenage girls were like."

Realisation came upon Jenny. "Wait, you mean you…"

Before she could finish her question, Andreas herded them all inside the entrance lobby, the doors sliding closed behind them with a gentle swoosh and a click.

"This is the main lobby of the Chambers…"

This was more what Jenny had envisioned the future to be. The whole room was bank upon bank of screens, all showing futuristic graphics and teeming with information.

"…latest stock market information available 24/7…"

Jenny turned on her axis, taking it all in slowly. People she presumed to be civil servants, MPs and other staff buzzed in and out of the lobby. In the corner, a woman was waving her arms about and loudly berating a man in a suit about animal cruelty in the 'agricultural centres'. _Wow. Absolutely nothing has changed,_ thought Jenny.

"…government is split between councils with the Senate above it all…"

_Sounds a bit like the UN_, Jenny thought. _I wonder do we get to see much?_

"…so if you'd like to follow me, we'll go and see some of the council chambers."

Andreas led the group on a march along an extremely long corridor that swept gently around to the left. A seemingly endless succession of doors lined the inner wall, each with a chrome plaque bearing the name of its occupant. One of the senators was going into his office, and Jenny was pleased to see a suitably high-tech and over-the-top security system of swipe card, eight-digit code, iris scan and retina scan.

"See, Doctor, it's things like retina scans that make people 'ooh' and 'ah', not a silly wooden box."

"If you're going to be this _annoying_ all the time, I'll just take you home! Everyone else has been thoroughly, completely, totally astounded and amazed by the TARDIS. You're just…just…"

Jenny raised an eyebrow in anticipation of the insult to come.

"…_weird_."

The first council chamber, like the Doctor's finale, was a surprising let-down. Again, in the context of citizenship, Jenny had seen pictures of Room XIX of the United Nations in Geneva, and this chamber was suspiciously similar. Admittedly, it was still interesting to see, and yes, most of the wood had been replaced with yet more glass and chrome and computer monitors, but a big room with desks and chairs was still a big room with desks and chairs.

"The Senate chamber is far more interesting," said the Doctor. Clearly his thoughts were along the same lines as Jenny's. "You know the Coruscant Senate in Star Wars?"

Jenny's eyes lit up. "You're kidding! It's surely not like that? With all those anti-gravity pods and whatever?"

The Doctor snorted. "Don't be silly. They're not anti-gravity!"

"Implying that everything else is the same?" Jenny pressed.

With utterly impeccable timing, Andreas doused their hopes in cold water. "I had hoped to show you the main Senate chamber today, ladies and gentlemen," he explained apologetically, "but unfortunately they are still in session from this _pro-re-nata_ meeting I'm sure you've all heard about in the news. So I'm sorry about that, but these things can't be helped. Moving on, then – I'm going to show you all the voting gates…"

"Couldn't you have picked a day the Senate _didn't_ feel the need to be in session?" muttered Jenny under her breath. "What's it all about then, anyway?"

"Don't know," replied the Doctor in equally quiet tones. "You want to know; you ask him afterwards."

Twenty minutes later, the tour came to a close. After a smattering of polite applause, Andreas began collecting visitor's passes and showing people to the exit.

Jenny approached the man and flashed him her nicest smile as she handed back her pass. "Thank you very much for the tour!"

Andreas returned the smile a little warily, clearly used to female affection. "You're welcome, miss," he said. "Did you have any questions?"

"Well, yes, just the one. You said the Senate was in session for a…a _pro_…something…"

The guide chuckled. "A _pro-re-nata_ meeting? Yes, that's right. It's Latin for 'as needed'."

"Right. So why was it needed?"

Andreas laughed this time. "Don't you watch the news in your apartment?"

Jenny decided to plead ignorance and looked at the ground in fake embarrassment. "My parents do, but it's a bit boring to me…" In reality, she loved politics and current affairs, so forcing out this blatant lie was tearing apart her melodramatic side.

"Well surely you've heard about this war that's brewing? Nobody's mentioned it at school even?"

The Doctor had been hovering within earshot and darted over as soon as he heard. "Hello! Sorry, couldn't help overhearing. A war?"

Andreas looked suspicious. "Sorry, sir, can I help you?"

Jenny covered for the Timelord. "Oh, this is my uncle. He can be a bit…direct. Don't mind him."

"Well, anyway, the war," Andreas continued. "You must know about it. It's been brewing as third story for weeks. Then, last week, Glavat took things up a notch and voiced an intention to stage a coup."

"Glavat?"

"Yes, General Argol Glavat. He's the man who started all of this. Really, the name doesn't ring a bell?"

_Argol Glavat,_ considered Jenny in her head, letting the hard 'g's echo gutturally in her head. _At last, a nice alien-sounding name_.

"We're off-worlders, you see. Mustn't be intergalactic news yet."

Andreas' eyes narrowed. "Mmm. Quite."

Something inside his pocket started beeping, and Andreas withdrew a piece of glass that Jenny identified to be a mobile phone. "Excuse me for a moment," said Andreas before withdrawing to a socially acceptable distance.

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of _that_ Senate chamber…" said Jenny.

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. "_Now_ do you think this might be useful?"

The moral dilemma was excruciating, but eventually curiosity got the better of her.

"Fine," said Jenny, "but if we get arrested, my mum will _kill_ you."

Thus, Jenny and the Doctor paced down the sweeping corridor a second time. Jenny felt awfully self-conscious of being the only child in an adult world. She couldn't have been more out of place in a strip club.

"So what's your plan, then?" asked Jenny. "How do you expect we will actually get into the Senate chamber?"

"Simple," said the Doctor. "We simply find an empty cubicle and observe from there."

"Don't you think the senators might notice if we just randomly appeared in the cubicle of Uzbekistan or whatever?"

"Right, first of all, there is no Uzbekistan here, so we'll just be in one of the district cubicles. Second, we'll sit in the dark with the lights off."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and began waving it up and down doors as they passed. "Come on, one of these has to be empty…"

"Well, if this war thing is as serious as Andreas says it is, wouldn't everybody want to be here? So isn't seating going to be at a premium?"

"Hadn't thought of that. Looks like we're just going to have to get lucky."

It took half an hour of scouring eighteen floors before they finally found an empty cubicle. A quick blast of the sonic put paid to the security, and the door buzzed open.

Jenny found herself standing in a sumptuous air-conditioned office. Set out from one wall was a sturdy desk with a computer terminal, a couple of small flags and a telephone. The other wall bore a massive high-resolution screen with a fake picture-window display of a beach scene. A hidden sound system played very subtle sound effects to match the wind and waves 'outside', giving the entire room a soothing ambience. _Perfect for after a hard day's debating._

"This would be a bit of all right, wouldn't it? MEPs, eat your hearts out."

The Doctor smiled at her joke and pointed to a darkened sliding door opposite to their method of ingress. "That's what we want over there."

He and Jenny pressed their faces against the door and tried to squint through the tinted glass, but they could only make out glowing lights and very vague shapes. Muffled amplified speech filtered through the joints but it was incomprehensible.

"So let's just recap," said Jenny. "We open that door as quietly as we can. We sneak in and keep low. And we don't switch on the light. Right?"

"Right."

"Let's do it."

The Doctor flicked the catch and gently eased the door open. The track was evidently well oiled and so the door opened with barely a sound.

The senate chamber was essentially a large sphere with various balconies lining the inner surface. From the centre, one large platform was supported in the middle by a large pedestal. This central platform bore the Speaker of the Senate, his officials, the President and his officials too.

On the whole, lighting was good, but most of the light came from large fixtures set into the main ceiling. Hence, anybody standing in a balcony would be mostly in shadow from the balconies above him. It was this shadow that the Doctor and Jenny were exploiting now.

Jenny eased the door shut behind them. That was her mistake.

The closing door triggered a metal contact switch, which in turn activated a dome light in the ceiling above them. A pleasant synthesised female voice also spoke: "Bracken District Representative, present."

All eyes turned to their balcony, searching for this late arrival. The Doctor and Jenny dropped to the floor on instinct and rolled tight against the balcony wall: the Doctor with his back to the wall and Jenny with her back to his chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable.

"Mr Douglas?" inquired the Speaker.

The Doctor and Jenny hardly dared breathe.

"Mr Speaker, sir," piped up one of the younger representatives, "it's probably just the door sensor has gone faulty. Sometimes an intermittent contact can trick the computer into thinking the door opened and closed."

"Thank you, Miss Sherwood," droned the Speaker. "Manual override, please, Mr Second Deputy Chairman."

A rattle on a keyboard, and the light clicked off. Jenny and the Doctor breathed a very large sigh of relief.

"Please continue, Mrs Forsythe," prompted the Speaker.

Jenny dared to peer over the edge of the balcony rail. One of the balconies was jutting out into the middle of the sphere, held there by a long boom arm. Jenny presumed that its occupant was the aforementioned Forsythe, who was at that moment rearranging her papers nervously. Forsythe cleared her throat.

"Uh, thank you, Mr Speaker. Um, yes, so as I was saying, my constituents are worried that they're going to be the first target. Because their homes are pretty much right on the perimeter, you understand."

The President leapt to his feet. "There probably isn't even going to _be_ an invasion. Glavat is probably bluffing."

"With all due respect, Mr President," continued Forsythe, "when their lives are on the line, my constituents aren't willing to simply take your word for that."

"Look, all we have is one telecast from him saying he doesn't like the way the country is being run and he has half a mind to waltz in here and run it himself."

Another balcony glided forward to the middle. "Mr President, our current intelligence suggests that General Argol Glavat is mobilising troops."

A deathly silence hung over the entire chamber. The Doctor and Jenny looked at each other, then back to the scene before them.

"Say that again, Mr Bradley?"

"As chief of our intelligence division, I am kept informed of any and all developments anyway, but I keep a particularly close eye on things during political unrest. Our scans of C-e and C-f show minimal movement on C-f, but some rather interesting readings on C-e."

Bradley tapped a couple of keys, and a diagram flickered into existence on a monitor in the balcony.

"Briefly, the heat signatures on C-e are characteristic of weaponised plasma reactors. We're estimating about twenty thousand of them."

The President choked, and evidently about a third of the assembly choked with him.

"Twenty thousand? You're joking?" the man managed to cough.

"I wish I were, Mr President."

The Doctor whispered into Jenny's ear: "That's twenty thousand battle cruisers. You could wipe out an entire solar system with that kind of firepower."

Jenny felt her blood run cold with the thought.

The President processed the information. "So, what kind of ground forces are we talking? Is this conventional troops or what?"

Bradley shook his head. "No, sir, there aren't enough life signs for that. We're suspecting mainly mechanised troops. That would tally with the shipments of superdense armour materials they've been receiving."

The President rubbed his temples, taking it all in. "Bradley, what's our timeframe here?"

The click of the next key press could be heard throughout the senate chamber. "Well, C-e is on a different orbit radius to C-c and therefore has a different period of orbit, too. Now, we have calculated that the closest approach point brings C-e and C-c to within point-zero-eight-seven-five astronomical units of each other."

"What's that in English, please, Mr Bradley?" said the Speaker disparagingly.

"Just a little over eight million miles."

"Good grief!" exclaimed the President. "That's barely a stone's throw away. But when does that happen?"

What Bradley said next made the Doctor and Jenny's hearts miss a beat.

"Well, that's the scary part, Mr President.

"We predict that closest approach is three o'clock tomorrow afternoon."

* * *

**Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: My explanation (read excuse) for the long wait this time is a combination of me being away on holiday and then my beta reader being away on holiday! But better late than never. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE

"Jenny, wait!"

But Jenny didn't wait. She was striding purposefully back down the corridor, back whence they came.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off forcefully. "Don't touch me!" she snapped.

With that command in mind, the Doctor seized hold of her shoulder again and spun her round to face him.

"Jenny, how can you just walk away like that?" he demanded.

"Very easily! Watch!"

She turned to leave, but once again the Doctor prevented her departure.

"What is your _problem_?" she yelled. The word echoed around the corridor, causing every single head to turn.

"Do you think we could possibly do this somewhere more discreet?" hissed the Timelord. Without waiting for an answer, he dragged Jenny (protesting and kicking) through the first door he looked at.

"A supply cupboard? Are you seriously that cliché?" said Jenny.

"It was all that came to hand," he dismissed. "Do you think I did this deliberately? Do you think that my idea of fun is to drag a thirteen-year-old girl into a war zone?"

"I'm fourteen, but continue," corrected Jenny, slightly calmer.

"I _had_ heard of Glavat before but only in the context of him being a frustrated revolutionary. He wanted to change the direction that humanity was moving and I respected him for that. To be honest, it actually piqued my curiosity a bit, being a bit of a rebel myself."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "You helpfully glossed over that bit in the café."

The Doctor got a little exasperated. "Look, the point is, this doesn't happen! Glavat tried to change things from the inside, he got shot down every time, and so at the age of fifty-eight he resigned his post and retired to grow tomatoes hybridised with oranges."

"Well evidently it is happening, so you must have got your facts wrong."

A quick shake of the head. "No, no, you don't understand. It doesn't work like that for Timelords. We don't remember facts learned about past, present and future. We see time in all its complexity, all its intricacy, as easily as looking at a spider's web. Glavat _does not_ have a huge invasion force and he _does not_ try to stage a coup."

Jenny sighed, trying to comprehend everything. "So…you're telling me that time is altering? That Glavat is somehow changing history? How is that even possible?"

The Doctor's features clouded over, and Jenny's heart lurched as she felt the foreboding emanating from the man. "It's not possible. That's just it; it _isn't_ possible. So that means we're dealing with some extremely powerful forces. This isn't your ordinary run-of-the-mill invasion and coup. This isn't _human_. This is something more."

The girl was still confused. "Why isn't it possible, though? If you believe most current physics, time is constantly in flux and so it could theoretically be changed at any moment."

"You're half right," conceded the Doctor. "Time _is_ in flux, but not all of it. Think of a standing wave in a string – you've got bits moving up and down and you've got bits that aren't moving: the nodes. Time is the same. Most of it is constantly changing, always in flux, but some parts don't move. We call those fixed points in time, space/time events that must always happen in a particular way. It doesn't have to be important; it could be anything from the outcome of a war to how long a teabag gets left in a cup. But disrupt those fixed points; move one of the nodes, and the whole timeline is disrupted. Your standing wave breaks down. Now, Time Lords can sense when that's happening. A sixth sense, if you will. And I can tell you, my sixth sense is going crazy."

"But why does it have to be _us_ that sorts this out?" Jenny protested. "We're meant to be here on a sightseeing trip, not to re-establish diplomatic relations!"

"Because I'm the only one who can stop this."

Jenny sneered. "Because only _you_ can withstand the incredible, superhuman might of this general?"

The Doctor was completely serious. "Yes."

That took the wind out of her sails. "Oh. Really?"

He carried on. "We've been put here for a reason, and so it's up to us to try and stop this. To try and put things right."

Jenny knew he was right, and that's what scared her. She swallowed hard, and sat down uneasily on the floor.

The Doctor was entirely unprepared for this and drew hard on past experience to know what to do. He sank down next to her and decided against a comforting arm at this stage.

"Are you scared, Jenny?" he asked tentatively.

"No!" she said a little too quickly. Then she sat back. "Yeah. I'm actually terrified. We could die in all of this. If there's a full-scale invasion tomorrow afternoon we could both get killed in the crossfire."

That seemed to tug on something in the Doctor's mind, because he suddenly went very serious again.

"Doctor, you said something back at the entrance about forgetting what teenage girls were like. Does that mean that you…?" She left the question dangling.

"Had a daughter once? Yes. I had several daughters."

"Did they…I mean, you said that all of them…so does that mean…?" Jenny couldn't bring herself to say the ugly words.

"They all died, yes." The Doctor fought back the lump in his throat and continued. "All in the same battle."

Jenny was lost for words. "That must have been tough," was all she could manage.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." He swallowed again, harder this time. The Timelord turned to look at her. "I will look after you, Jenny, you know that, don't you? I promised your dad and I always keep my word."

She nodded, feeling a shred of warmth in that comfort.

Another memory slid into the Doctor's mind, and with it came a single tear. "There was one that was different, though. She was extrapolated from a sample of my DNA. Funny, _her_ name was…"

Sudden realisation hit. "Jenny. Her name was Jenny."

It was that thought which put an end to the conversation. The pair stood up in synchronisation, dusted themselves off and exited the Chambers without a further word.

They decided by means of the briefest possible interchange that the TARDIS was the safest place to reside for the night. After all, if the General decided to attack early, they stood a better chance of withstanding a stray shot in the TARDIS than some hotel. It slightly disappointed Jenny that they couldn't stay somewhere futuristic, but she knew in her heart of hearts that it was pragmatic.

By rights, Jenny should have been exhausted – after all, she had been on the go for around twenty-two hours by this point – but she couldn't sleep a wink. Her mind refused to power down for the night, and so train of thought after train of thought ran through her head.

The Doctor was once a father – _was_ being the operative word there. He had had children, raised them to adulthood, and lost them again in a war of epic proportions along with the rest of his species. Somehow knowledge of that side of the man made Jenny draw ever closer to him in her head, made him seem less aloof, more approachable. In fact, given the circumstances and all the events of the day previous, she could almost see him becoming _her_…

She sat up with a jolt. No! She mustn't. She couldn't…

No. _He_ couldn't.

_That_ was the problem. With everything that had gone before, the thought that he could lose yet another daughter would break him. If he ever had an inkling that she felt that way, she would be spirited out of the TARDIS before she could blink. Men like that daren't take any chance with their emotions.

Jenny knew that she would have to stay strong by herself. Rely on the Doctor too much, and his paternal instincts would take over and that would be it.

She flicked on the bedside light and surveyed the room she was in. It seemed like any hotel room in any three-star hotel worldwide. Wonder if there's anything to read?

She tugged on the bedside drawer and squinted at the contents. A single leather-bound book rested inside, coated with a thin film of dust.

'The Holy Bible, New International Version'

_Somebody staying here was religious. Huh._

Jenny shrugged. It would do to get her to sleep if nothing else.

For a laugh, she propped it up on the spine and allowed it to fall open to a random page. _Allow the Lord God Almighty to dictate the verse._

Laughing at her childishness, Jenny waved her finger in circles above the page and stabbed down. Her finger rested squarely on the middle of verse twenty-one of Matthew chapter one.

"Because he will save his people from their sins," Jenny read. Christmas passage in May? Bit early, but…

_Wait a second. Save his people? Is it just coincidence, or…_

Perplexed, Jenny slid back down under the covers, suddenly feeling very tired indeed.

_Weird._

The Doctor, being a Timelord, slept very little anyway, but tonight was particularly restless. Saving a planet was nothing new. It had never caused him to lose sleep in the past.

So why now? Jenny, of course.

She differed from every other companion because he was in essence totally responsible for her. All of the others could look after themselves, but Jenny couldn't.

Or could she? That was a thought. She might be capable of looking after herself.

But the thought was dispelled as quickly as it came. Of course she couldn't. The Doctor thought back when she lost her father. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but of course it was only the previous day. He had gone into the console room and found her steeled for vengeance, but every instinct told him that, underneath, she was wracked with pain. Much as she was one of the brightest and most mature human children he had ever met, she was still too young to fend for herself.

Had he bitten off more than he could chew with this one? It was quite a reckless promise to take care of a teenage girl he had met only half an hour previous. But it wasn't by any means an alien proposition. After all, many moons ago, _he_ had been dealing with broken hearts, wardrobe crises and emotional breakdowns of his own children. So what was to stop Jenny from becoming…?

He sat up with a jolt. No! He mustn't. He couldn't…

No. _She_ couldn't.

Like it or not, he was not her father and never could be. The TARDIS was hardly the suitable environment for the development of a teenage girl. Although the Doctor had the assurance of knowing the place of his death, Jenny didn't. Besides, Jenny's mother was still on the scene.

Mother.

_That_ triggered memories. The Doctor remembered her kind, beautiful face, her mesmerising charm and personality. Nobody believed for one moment that a relationship between them could have worked, but if anything that drove them closer.

With the memories of his wife came memories of the sons and daughters he had lost, and a great chasm tore itself open in his heart. Here was the real reason why Jenny could never be anything more than his ward. If he lost another daughter, or daughter-like figure, this old man might break.

So the Timelord slid back down underneath the covers and resigned himself to a sleepless night.

* * *

"Huh?"

Jenny was rudely awoken by a shaking of her shoulders. It took her a couple of seconds to remember where she was and who the strange man leaning over her bed was.

"Come on, Jenny, wake up! War starts this afternoon!"

The latter sentence was better than any glass of water ever could be.

"Boy, if I had a quid for every time I heard _that_ one…" muttered Jenny. She swung her legs out of bed and levered herself upright. "Right, give me ten minutes to get ready."

"You've got five."

She was out in four.

"What's the plan?" she asked as they strode briskly across the fields.

"Oh, I'll think of something," came the vague reply.

As it transpired, the Doctor's 'plan' consisted of marching into the Chambers and knocking on the office door of the President himself.

"You seriously think this is going to work?" said Jenny, completely unconvinced.

"I think we're about to find out."

The door opened onto a chain, and a pair of eyes squinted through the crack.

"Can I help you?" asked the bearer of said pair of eyes.

"No, but we can help you with the invasion. Kindly open up," retorted the Doctor.

The door closed again, and there came a rattle as the chain was disconnected. It reopened into an office very similar to the one the pair had previously broken into.

"Oh. That was easy," said the Doctor as he ushered Jenny inside in front of him.

The pair of eyes slammed the door shut behind them and whipped out a handgun. Suddenly, it and four others were levelled at the Doctor and Jenny.

"Hands on your head! Do it now!" the pair of eyes screeched.

Jenny sighed.

"Blast."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review!**


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